Naphthalenes associated with treated wastewater effluents in an urban national wildlife refuge

Journal Article · Wed Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1990 · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01700143· OSTI ID:7101531

Tanacredi, J T ^[1]

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1. National Park Service, Brooklyn, NY (USA)

This project demonstrates the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon character of Jamaica Bay sediments and the wastewater effluents entering the Bay from four major water pollution control facilities. Jamaica Bay, is a part of the Hudson-Raritan estuarine ecosystem and is incorporated into the Gateway National Recreation Area. Jamaica Bay, because of its hydrological characteristics, affords a long residence time for introduced pollutants. This study was conducted to further characterize the PAH character of the wastewater effluents. These fused ring structures are of interest in that they represent the carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic components of petroleum compounds to marine organisms. Because of their high molecular weight, the solubility of PAH in water, is of a very low order. Consequently, in estuarine environments, PAH compounds will be found associated with suspended solids and sediments. Although PAH degrading microorganisms are known to occur in estuarine environments, the degradation rates of these compounds are very slow. Coupled with the low degradation rates and known carcinogenicity of many of these compounds, investigations have shown that fish and other organisms taken from areas with a history of oil contamination have been found to exhibit elevated levels of compounds which bioactivate complex PAH compounds into mutagens.

• OSTI ID: 7101531
• Journal Information: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA), Journal Name: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA) Vol. 44:2; ISSN 0007-4861; ISSN BECTA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AROMATICS
BAYS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS
CONDENSED AROMATICS
ESTUARIES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
NAPHTHALENE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RECREATIONAL AREAS
SEDIMENTS
SOLUBILITY
SURFACE WATERS
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER POLLUTION